Skip to content

COVID-19: Piedmont Together—Living and Learning During the Pandemic

Learn more
Piedmont University
  • Academics
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Giving
  • Athletics

Piedmont News

  1. Home
  2. 2021
  3. March
  4. 11
  5. Hatfield making her own history in the Nacoochee Valley
  • Events
Back to news
Related Stories
  • Piedmont University Business Grad Starts Career as an Auditor — And Much More is to Come

    Last month, Piedmont University Walker College of Business alumna Brittany Latham started a new job

    Keep Reading
  • Two Strikes Put Waller in Higher Education

    This series spotlights the people who educate Piedmont University students. We ask them about their

    Keep Reading
Contact Newsroom
Marketing & Communications
Phone: 706-778-8500 x1152
Email: rpleasant@piedmont.edu News Archive
Mar 11, 2021
/ Article ,Business College ,Featured ,News

Hatfield making her own history in the Nacoochee Valley

As a preteen, Madison Hatfield ’21 wanted to take a “fun family weekend trip” to Andersonville, a tiny Georgia town once home to a prisoner-of-war camp. Thousands of Union soldiers died of scurvy and dysentery in the 14 months the Confederacy operated the camp during the Civil War.           

Dr. Beth Lovern, Associate Professor of anthropology at Piedmont and a mentor to the senior, would not be surprised by that story. Lovern took note of Hatfield’s “intellectual curiosity, motivation, and organizational skills” when she received news of an internship at the Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center (SNCC) history museum. Executive Director Patrick Brennan was seeking help with digitizing the museum’s collection.           

“Early on, Madison had expressed an interest in museum studies as a way to combine her interests in history, sociology, and anthropology,” she said.           

Hatfield photographs and numbers pieces in the collection. The work is critical to the launch of the center’s first app as well as a new written guide highlighting historical and cultural resources in White County. The North Georgia county is home to the Nacoochee Valley, unincorporated Sautee Nacoochee and the cities of Cleveland and Helen, an Alpine Village-themed tourist destination.           

Madison Hatfield with associate professor anthropology Beth Lovern.

Hatfield’s work is historic in itself and has resulted in waves of gratitude from locals.           

“People from the history museum committee who have wanted this project done for years come up to me and say, ‘you don’t know how much this means to us that you are doing this,’” Hatfield said. “It’s just very rewarding.”           

The experience likely will guide her life’s direction. She may pursue a master’s and possibly a PhD. She could teach or go into law. She could practice public history and apply it to real-world issues. She will also have a minor in social justice as a participant in the Lillian E. Smith Scholars Program.

The future of history

According to Brennan, municipal leaders have seen the light around historic preservation and heritage tourism as moneymakers. Hatfield’s work will help provide the authentic experience visitors seek.           

More than 189 historical sites have been identified in and around the Nacoochee Valley thanks to students. It marks the beginning of what will surely be a long process as just 18 sites will comprise the first heritage tour. Hatfield prioritizes artifacts that relate to those sites, bringing history to life as she goes.           

“She’s been able to associate Indian pottery from amateur archeology at the Stovall House, which is one of our three [National Register of Historic Places] sites in the county,” Brennan said. “When you go onto the app, there is a carousel at the top of the page. There is an image for the John Stovall House, so you can push through and see a picture of the house, the Stovall family on the porch, a picture of the house as it was on an early map of White County.”           

The Stovall House today is a bed and breakfast, and a clear link between history and modern-day tourism and commerce.           

The SNCC uses a gazebo as its marketing icon and with good reason. There is one nearby just off State Route 75 that is well known to locals and tourists alike. Built around the turn of the 20th century, the gazebo sits atop what appears to be a burial mound that has for decades been wrongly associated with the Cherokee. The structure is considered either an insult to native peoples or a protectant that saved the mound from further destruction.           

It will take the work of people like Hatfield to tell the area’s truth.           

“It’s important to highlight our accomplishments in history, but we don’t highlight the times we failed as humans, and that is why I love studying history,” Hatfield said. “It’s like flipping a switch when you get into college. This is the real world. This is what happened. You’ve got to deal with it and move on and build off of that knowledge.”

Share This Story
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Previous Article
Next Article
Piedmont University
Contact
  • P.O. Box 10 | 1021 Central Avenue
    Demorest, Georgia | 30535
  • Phone: 1-800-277-7020
  • E-Mail: info@piedmont.edu
Helpful Links
  • Self-Service
  • PilgrimNet
  • Faculty & Staff Directory
  • Campus Safety
  • Library
  • Information Technology
  • Payments
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • Title IX/Legal Disclosures
  • Consumer Disclosures
  • Accessibility
  • Employment
  • Cigna Transparency in Coverage
  • Academics
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Giving
  • Athletics
  • About Piedmont
    • Celebrating 125 Years
    • Our History
    • Vision, Mission & Values
    • Leadership
    • Rankings, Recognitions, and Alumni Outcomes
    • Faculty & Staff Directory
  • Academics
    • Academic Catalog
    • Piedmont Promise
    • College of Arts & Sciences
    • College of Education
    • College of Nursing & Health Sciences
    • Walker College of Business
    • Online Programs
    • Library
    • The Fine Arts at Piedmont
  • Admissions & Aid
    • Apply
    • Graduate Admissions
    • Financial Aid
    • Request Information
    • Accepted Students
    • Tuition & Fees
    • Student Accounts
    • Piedmont University Viewbook
    • Parents & Families
  • Alumni
  • Campus Life
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Residence Life
    • Student Support Services
  • Resources
  • Info For…
    • Future Students
    • Current Students
    • Alumni & Friends
  • Piedmont News
  • Piedmont Events
  • Academics
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Giving
  • Athletics